Phoenix man sentenced for terrorism will appeal conviction

PHOENIX — An Arizona man imprisoned for helping to plot a 2015 attack at Prophet Muhammad contest in Texas planned to appeal his conviction.

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem said in court papers Monday that he was going to appeal the guilty verdicts.

The Phoenix man was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week for helping plan the attack in Garland, Texas, and providing support to the Islamic State group.

He was found guilty on five counts in March 2016. Kareem faced a maximum of 45 years in prison. It was the second time a person was tried in the U.S. on charges related to ISIS.

Authorities said Kareem provided the guns that two friends used to open fire outside the Texas site, watched videos showing violence by jihadists with the friends and researched travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters.

The friends, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, also from the Phoenix area, were armed with assault rifles and wore body armor when they arrived at the Curtis Culwell Center on a Sunday night.

Kareem testified at trial that he didn’t know his friends were going to attack the contest and didn’t find out about the shooting until after they had been shot to death by police.